Time
by SkyeRose
Summary: They never saw it coming. If they had, everything would be different. Two parter, SamJack
1. Chapter 1

**Time**

**A/N: I know this chapter might turn many of you off, but I hope you'll stick with me. This is undoubtedly very dark, but where there is darkness there is light too, right? So, give it a chance!**

**Enjoy!**

They never saw it coming. If they had, everything would be different.

Sam pressed her forehead against the cold stone wall, unable to force her gaze to the other side of the room. She could hear Daniel moaning somewhere to her left, but the coldness that had slowly been filling her every fiber didn't leave any space for her to care. A jagged edge in the wall was cutting into her skin and she felt a thin trickle of blood seeping down, skirting the edge of her eye and barely kissing the corner of her mouth.

She rested there, eyes unblinking, and jaw loose. Had anyone been there to see her they would surely think she was as dead as the man at her feet. Daniel cried out harshly and she felt the barest of clenching in her muscles. She wanted to help him…no. That was a lie. She felt like she should be obligated to help him, but it didn't matter. He was too far gone anyway. She imagined the young man in her mind's eye, slumped against the prison cell, blood covering every inch of him as his wounds seeped. He was bleeding out and she knew she couldn't reach him if she tried. The chain around her wrists and ankles prevented her from moving more than a few inches.

Sam heard one last shuddering gasp and knew without a doubt that she was it. She was the only one left. Her team…her family…gone. And she was the one left to bear the loneliness. Sam felt something wet slip down her cheek, but she couldn't tell if it was blood or a long sought after tear. Since this whole mess she hadn't been able to cry.

When Teal'c had disappeared in a cloud of blood and dust she had been unable to help, unable to move. She had grieved in her heart, but her body had been needed elsewhere. When Jack's hand had gone slack in her own, she'd felt her heart break into a thousand pieces, but her mind refused to believe it and she had not shed any tears. Daniel's pain caused her pain, but after everything she couldn't bring herself to feel anything for any of them. She saw their pain, but it wasn't hers. Her pain was watching them suffer, and their suffering was simply too great for her to bear.

They never saw it coming.

…..

"Come on, Carter. Perk up, this is a routine thing." Jack nudged her shoulder and grinned down at her. Sam smiled back, her eyes softening when he winked at her, but she couldn't shake the heavy feeling that had come to rest on her chest. They'd been on this planet for more than a day and nothing had happened to warrant this foreboding.

Still, she couldn't get rid of it. It fell like a weight across her entire body, making her feel slow and stupid. An aerial survey showed a small town about six clicks from the gate and SG-3 had gone ahead to see if it was inhabited or not. This was technically SG-3's mission, SG-1 was here to provide back up in case of an emergency, but Daniel didn't think this culture was hostile. He'd found several pillars with writing, welcoming visitors.

Even the colonel, notoriously the most distrusting member of the team, seemed completely at ease on the planet; joking and teasing the rest of the team. But when Sam caught him looking warily off into the trees, her sense of dread increased tenfold. He was putting on a good act, but he felt it too.

Something was off.

Sam woke with a start, a cold sweat breaking out on her brow. She reached for her gun and silently clambered from her sleeping bag. Though she couldn't hear anything now, she knew a sound had woken her. Bile rose in her throat and she had to fight the nausea that was quickly filling her abdomen, spreading sickly tendrils to her limbs, making her fingers and toes tingle. Something was horribly, dreadfully wrong.

A quick glance down told her that her colonel was not in the tent. Could the noise have been him? No, she didn't think so. She trusted her gut and the nervous, roiling dance her stomach was currently doing did not point to anything other than danger. An intruder.

As soon as the word entered her mind, her body reacted automatically. Dropping into a crawl, Sam used the barrel of her P-90 to push the tent's flap aside and, careful not to make a sound, she crept into the campsite. The dying embers of their fire sent thin tendrils of smoke into the night air and cast disconcerting shadows onto the surrounding trees. She didn't see the colonel as she made her way quickly to the adjacent tent.

Checking her surroundings quickly, Sam ducked her head into the tent, blood running cold when both bags were empty. Where was her team? A heavy hand on her shoulder caused Sam to bite her tongue in order not to cry out. A sharp elbow jab had the hand releasing her and Sam whipped around, weapon raised.

"Easy, Carter." The familiar voice almost caused her to sob with relief. Her colonel was alive, he was safe, he was there.

"Sir!" Sam involuntarily grabbed his vest, partly to assure herself he was real and partly because now that she had him back she didn't want to let go, lest he disappear again. "What's the situation?"

Jack's eyes were bright and alert, but his jaw was tense as his gaze roved over her face, debating how much to tell her. "SG-3 has been neutralized." Sam's stomach clenched. "Hostiles have made our position, but they're waiting for something."

"Daniel, Teal'c?" She whispered around the lump forming in her throat.

"In position, waiting for an attack."

"Why wasn't I notified, sir?" Sam couldn't hold back the anger in her voice. She was a valuable asset to this team—at least, she had thought she was.

"I…" He trailed, backed into a corner. She saw the fear in his expression. "I wanted you safe, Carter."

"Asleep, alone in a tent is safe?" She inadvertently yanked on his vest, pulling him closer to her, nose brushing nose.

"You are my mission right now. They want you, Carter." Sam stopped breathing. His expression was so afraid, so determined…she couldn't think straight. Before she could question him, a piercing shriek echoed through the woods and Sam felt the hair on her neck raise.

A battlecry.

"O'Neill!" Teal'c shouted somewhere off to their right.

Before Sam could react, Jack had grabbed her by the vest and yanked her to her feet. They ran full tilt away from the campsite and into the trees, heading in the direction of the gate. Sam's short gasps burned her lungs as they ran, dodging trees and uncaring of the noise they made. "What about Daniel and Teal'c?" She forced out, the very effort setting her lungs on fire. Why was breathing becoming so difficult?

"They should be right behind us." He answered, breathing hard. "Plan B, get the hell out of dodge."

"Why didn't we run before?"

"We had less than five minutes notice. You weren't waking up."

"I wasn't…?" Sam choked on the words as her lungs protested.

"We fanned out, ready to defend your position."

Sam tripped over her own foot and went down hard, palms breaking her fall but getting skinned in the process. Only sips of air were getting in now and Sam squeezed her eyes shut, willing air into her lungs. "Carter!" Jack dropped to his knees in front of her and shook her shoulders. "Come on, I need you to focus."

"Jack!" Daniel's shout barely registered with her as he and Teal'c came to a crashing halt behind them. "Jack, we got to go!"

"Can't…breathe." Sam managed to gasp, wide eyes finding her commanding officer's.

"O'Neill!" Teal'c's panicked voice filled Sam's ears and suddenly her heart was racing too fast. A sharp tug in her side nearly had her collapsing, hands digging into the dirt and dead leaves to stay upright. "Major Carter has been drugged."

"We need to get her up!" Jack yelled, arms reaching to wrap around her waist.

"No, Jack!" Daniel launched himself between the two officers, shoving Jack back. "We can't move her! The faster her blood is pumping, the faster the poison moves."

'_I've been shot?' _Sam wondered sluggishly. _'I don't remember feeling anything.'_ But Jack's words came floating back to her, _"You weren't waking up."_ She hadn't woken up because she had been drugged. It must have worn off enough for her to awaken, but not enough not to spread.

"Then what the hell am I supposed to do Daniel?" Jack shoved back, fingers gripping Sam's chin tightly. "Carter? Sam! Can you hear me?" Sam willed her head to move, but nothing happened. She heaved and foamy saliva dripped to the ground. "Goddammit, Carter, you stay with me!" Sam's fingers slipped on the now slick leaves and she started to fall forwards, head cocked at an awkward angle.

Her eyes focused on Teal'c and then on the man behind him. She tried to call out, to warn them, but it was too late. The warm night air was rent by an explosion, blood and dirt spraying everywhere. She heard Daniel scream, but she could only see the spot where Teal'c had been. Only scorched, blood-soaked earth remained.

Then her eyes rolled back in her head and blackness overtook her.

…

Sam woke to a finger gently stroking her cheek. Her eyes felt gritty and for a second she thought she was back in the tent and had overslept breakfast. Blinking rapidly, she opened her eyes, struggling to see in the dim light. "Colonel?"

"Hey." Jack smiled.

Sam's first thought was that the whole world had tilted on its side and her second was that the colonel looked much too pale. Then she realized that the world was in fact, not tilted, she was lying on her side. Then she felt warm stickiness pooling around her knees and her heart sank. She tried to push herself up, so she could see where he was hurt, but Jack pushed her back down, eyes locking onto hers. "Don't."

"Sir…" Sam whispered, voice breaking. She couldn't see the blood, but instinctively knew there was too much. He was so pale…

"It—it doesn't even hurt, Carter." He smiled crookedly and Sam's heart broke.

"Jack." She whispered, not even realizing her slip. They were lying so close, but she could feel no heat coming from his body. She brought her forehead close to his, and rested against him, squeezing her eyes shut. Jack gathered her fingers in his chilled ones and squeezed softly. "We'll get out of this."

"Sam, I wish…" His quiet voice trailed and Sam pulled back, panic coursing through her. His eyes were still open and staring at her, but Sam didn't see anything beyond his gaze. Then his fingers slipped through hers and landed with a wet sounding thud.

The trouble is, you think you have time.

**TBC**

**A/N: Dark, dark, dark…hopefully you guys don't totally hate me right now.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Part Two**

**A/N: Thank you for all your wonderful responses! I was afraid I'd lose some of you with that first chapter. Part two is a tad long, but I didn't want to break it up into three installments—I hope that's okay!**

**Enjoy!**

Sam's eyes snapped open and she took a deep breath, trying to quell her nausea. Her head was pounding and despite repeated attempts to swallow, her mouth and throat remained dry and scratchy. She looked around her on-base quarters, eyes adjusting to the dim light, and fought back the lump that was forming in her throat.

Nothing could have prepared her for the moment that she closed her eyes, welcoming the silence of death and instead opened them to the panicked sounds of a base with a medical emergency. The lights were harsh and glaring as her stretcher was wheeled down the hallway as fast as the airmen could push it. Janet's voice was loud, but her words unintelligible as Sam looked up at her friend, confused.

How had she gotten here? How was she back on base? Was it a trick? Had it all been a dream? As the needle pinched her arm, she drifted off to the immensely comforting thought that it _had_ all been a sickening dream.

The lights and sounds of the infirmary drifted slowly into Sam's consciousness and, for once, she was happy to be there. She let her body adjust to being awake before she licked her lips and slowly opened her eyes. The overhead lights were dimmed, but she could see well enough. Sam looked around the room, more than a little disappointed when not one of her teammates was there waiting for her. If she let herself be honest, she was expecting to at least see the colonel. For reasons they could never admit, he was always there when she woke up. Always.

"Hey, Sam." Janet's gentle voice brought her back to the infirmary and her eyes focused on her friend.

"Hey. What happened?" She tried to sit up, but Janet placed a firm hand on her shoulder. The action brought her back to that cell when Jack had done the same thing to prevent her from seeing the extent of his wounds. Sam shook the image off, it wasn't real. "Where's Colonel O'Neill? Daniel? Teal'c?"

Janet's brow furrowed and her eyes were unreadable. "Janet, where's my team?" She couldn't stop her voice from rising in pitch. Fear coursed through her and a ringing began in her ears.

"Sam, I'm so sorry. They didn't make it back." The small doctor was still talking, but the deafening ringing in Sam's ears drowned her out. They didn't make it back. It wasn't a dream.

She was alone.

Sam blinked hard, expecting tears to be pushing at her eyelids, but none came. She shook the memory of the infirmary off and sat up, her head swimming. Six days. She'd lived without them for six days. Six meaningless, monotonous days filled with cotton and droning voices spelling out words that Sam just couldn't hear.

Why couldn't she cry?

'_Because I don't believe it.'_ The answer shot to the forefront of her mind and Sam almost gasped with the strength of it. She fiercely refused to believe she was the only one. When she had been trapped in the infirmary, people kept coming by to offer their condolences and to call her a hero…a survivor. But what was surviving? When wasn't it worth it anymore?

Congratulations on being the only one alive. Well done.

Sam pressed her palms to her eyes and screwed up her face, trying to force the tears out. But it was to no avail. She raised her eyes to look up, gaze finding the one and only picture in her quarters. It had been taken a few months ago at Jack's house—she and the colonel were in the middle, his arm casually slung over her shoulders, while Daniel was making a ridiculous face and Teal'c stared deadpan at the camera. It had been a good day, one of the few that Sam could remember completely letting her guard down.

"_Major! When did you get here?" His teasing voice made her jump and spin around, barely avoiding the edge of the refrigerator. _

"_Sir! Um, a little while ago, but I saw you talking to…" She trailed when she wasn't actually sure who the woman was. "And I didn't want to interrupt." In truth, she had wanted to. But she was not about to tell him that._

"_Uh-huh." There was way too much understanding in his eyes for her comfort. They stood there for a moment, just smiling at each other before a burst of laughter from his living room broke the spell. They both grinned self-consciously and Jack moved to help her set out more food. They weren't sure when it happened, but whenever Jack had these get-togethers Sam assumed the role of co-host. No one questioned it; in fact, everyone accepted it as the most natural thing in the world._

_Jack even had an old military buddy who, whenever he was over, would ask if Sam and Jack were married yet. The two officers and their friends would laugh good-naturedly and take away the man's beer, claiming he'd had one too many. But they would always look at each other and Jack would always wink._

The present rushed back to Sam and the fond smile that had graced her lips fell away, leaving her feeling heavier than before. She couldn't even begin to comprehend her loss. How could she? How could she ever even begin to wrap her mind around the fact that the three people she had come to love as her own were gone forever?

She couldn't because they weren't.

For the first time since she'd woken up in the infirmary Sam was filled with something other than utter loss and hopelessness. She was filled with purpose. She slipped her feet into her boots and tied them just a tad too tight. But it didn't matter. She was going to get her family back.

….

Sam ran through her plan over and over again as she sat in SG-1's locker room, her back pressed against the colonel's locker. It had been almost two weeks since…that mission…but still their uniforms hung, as though they would enter at any moment and prepare for their next trip through the gate.

If everything went according to plan, they just might.

Sam knew her window of opportunity was small, if not a little too convenient. A solar flare just six days after her initial idea of sending a message. She had been expecting months, if not years, for a predicted flare big enough to do what she needed. This method of preventing horrific events had been proven effective in the past and beggars most certainly could not be choosers.

Unfortunately, there was no completely accurate way of determining when a flare would happen, but after working straight through for more than three days she'd managed to work out an algorithm that gave her the closest possible thing. Glancing down at her watch, she saw that she'd been sitting longer than she'd intended; seven minutes until the flare.

So a solar flare and a simple note was all she had. She looked down at the small slip of paper in her hand, borrowed words looking up at her. _"Under no circumstances go to P9C-828." _It was her hand-writing, but would it be enough? The blood that had been on the colonel's note was what had convinced them of the note's validity in the end.

Sam flipped the paper over and scrawled four more words, the harsh truth settling on her as she reread them. _"You will lose everything." _Then she reached into her boot and unsheathed the knife she kept there. Balancing the note on her knee she held her hand out palm up and brought the tip of the knife to her skin, careful to keep a steady hand.

The sudden blaring of klaxons startled her into dropping the knife, the blade's clatter lost in the din. "Damn." She muttered, jumping to her feet, crumpling the note in her fist. She had four minutes until her window was gone—whoever was knocking would simply have to wait.

She burst into the control room, breath coming in short gasps. "IDC?" She barked, ignoring the startled expressions on everyone's face. She already knew she looked like hell.

"None yet, ma'am." Walter answered immediately, not even glancing up from his computer.

"Incoming travelers?"

"No energy signals yet, ma'am."

"Shut it down." Sam shoved away any thoughts of another civilization calling out to them for help. If her plan worked, none of this will be real anyway. Walter turned to her, eyes wide as he searched her face for some sort of clue, some sort of hint as to why the Major was behaving this oddly.

His expression gave Sam pause. Did she have the right to do this? Change everyone's lives for such selfish reasons? What if this event—her nightmare—had actually made some lives better? Sam pressed her lips together, shoving those thoughts aside. It didn't matter—none of this _mattered_.

No one would remember in a few minutes anyway.

"Ma'am?" Walter hesitated, hand poised over the manual shut down.

Sam glanced at her watch. Just over a minute. She would need twenty three seconds to establish an outgoing wormhole and another fifteen to get to the gate. It was close. "That's an order!" Walter nodded jerkily as is hand pressed down on the panel, shutting down the incoming wormhole. "Now dial P4X-698, hurry!" That planet was directly across from them, on the other side of the sun. At least, she hoped it was—her calculations for planetary drift couldn't be absolutely precise.

"Major, what on Earth are you doing?" General Hammond's irate voice made Sam tense. Nothing could get in the way of her sending that note.

"I don't have time to explain, general." Sam turned as the gate whooshed open.

"Shut down that gate, sergeant!" Hammond shouted as he descended the last few stairs.

"Delay that order!" Sam shouted as she sprinted down the steps and into the gate room. "You keep that gate open!" She faced the wormhole, her heart thundering in her chest. The hope filling her heart hurt, but it didn't matter. Everything would go back to normal. Everything would be fine.

Time was up.

Sam threw the note into the blue puddle, just as the sound of P-90's being ratcheted reached her ears. She turned from the event horizon, air turning soupy and thick around her. Her eyes locked with Hammond's and she knew without a doubt that she had succeeded. _'There was no blood.'_ The thought suddenly raced through her mind.

But it was too late.

…

"IDC, sergeant?" Colonel O'Neill asked, descending from the briefing room.

"Um…it's yours, sir?" He went up on his words, unsure of what the computer was telling him.

"Oh?" Jack turned to look at his team as they followed him down the steps.

"This has happened before, sir." Sam shrugged, raising her eyebrow. "Open the iris, sergeant."

"Let's go check it out." Jack shrugged also, gesturing for his team to go ahead of him.

The small slip of paper fluttered gently down onto the metal grating. The four members of SG-1 looked at it suspiciously, no one really eager to pick it up.

"Look at it…pretending to be so innocent." Jack shoved his hands into his pockets and bounced on his heels, brow furrowed.

"It appears to be a mere note, O'Neill." Teal'c raised an eyebrow at the younger man's hesitance.

"That's what it wants you to think." Jack widened his eyes and couldn't help the grin that spread across his face when his second laughed quietly.

"Don't be such babies." Sam rolled her eyes, still smiling. Stepping forward, she picked up the paper and unfolded it carefully. When she remained silent, Jack stepped up behind her, looking at the words over her shoulder.

"Under no circumstances go to P9C-828." Jack read out loud, reaching around Sam to pluck the note from her fingers. "That's your hand-writing, Carter."

"Yes, sir." Sam turned, eyes searching his. "Read the other side."

Jack held her gaze for another minute, fear lacing through him at her expression. They were standing too close for propriety's sake, but neither cared. He looked down, turning the paper in his long fingers. "You will lose everything."

The atmosphere in the room shifted slightly as everyone took in the meaning of the words written in Major Carter's handwriting. "What does that mean?" Jack asked quietly, catching his major's eyes.

'_It means I lose you.'_ Sam looked away, unwilling to let him see her real answer on her face. "I don't know, sir. Maybe Earth?"

"Right." But his voice told her he knew that wasn't what she was thinking. "Well," He turned, voice falsely bright. "Better go fill Hammond in." He moved away from the ramp, not looking back to see if Carter was following.

"Subtle, Jack." Daniel muttered as the older man passed him.

"Shut up, Daniel."

The archaeologist rolled his eyes and gently took hold of Sam's elbow when she passed him. "You okay? You look a little shaken."

"I am, Daniel." Sam smiled softly. "Okay, not shaken."

"Okay." Daniel released her as they made their way into the briefing room.

…

"Well, people," Hammond stood, placing his hands flat on the table. "I see no reason to tempt fate. P9C-828 will be erased from the dialing computer. Dismissed."

Once the general had disappeared into his office, Sam stood, mind still reeling. Why had she sent that note? _When_ had she sent it? What was on that planet that had taken him from her? She glanced sidelong at her commanding officer, heart hurting for a loss that hadn't happened yet—one that won't happen now that the address was erased. Sam turned away, wanting nothing more than to hide in her lab.

"Carter, hold up a sec. I want to talk to you." He wasn't looking at her, but his tone suggested this wasn't really an "if you want to" thing.

"Yes, sir." Sam waited by the door as her colonel gathered his papers and joined her, beckoning for her to follow. He led her down the corridor, tapping his folder against his thigh as he walked. They walked in silence until they reached her lab, where he stepped aside to let her enter first. Once inside, he flipped the light switch and closed the door behind him, taking his time before turning to look at her.

"You okay, Carter?" The tilt of his head suggested to Sam that he wasn't going to be buying into any placating answers.

"Yes and no, I guess." Sam shrugged and sat at her work table. "Last time, when it was your note…it was unsettling. And the blood…" She trailed, looking around the room. "But it was a shock to see my handwriting. My words."

Jack nodded, understanding her feeling. "What do you think happened? I mean, really?"

Sam worried her teeth against her bottom lip before looking up, her eyes full of dread and sadness. "I think something terrible, really terrible, sir. For me of all people to mess with our timeline…" She shook her head, unable to hold his gaze.

After a moment Jack settled himself onto the seat next to hers, leaning towards her with his elbows on his knees. "It's not going to happen, Sam."

"Maybe not this time." When she looked up, her eyes shone with a thin veil of tears.

"We know there are no guarantees."

"Yes. We do." Sam gritted her teeth. "But…I…"

Jack caught her gaze and the corners of his mouth twitched in grim understanding. "But everything is a lot to lose."

"Yes. It is." Her eyes searched his face, memorizing every line, every curve. They knew every step through the gate was a calculated risk, but that didn't actually change anything. They were still stuck in their roles, bound by rules and consequences. The very fact that she had a sent a note to prevent future events served as an example for why the regulations were in place.

She had altered the course of everyone's lives simply because pure willpower and love can't keep someone with you forever. But Sam was having trouble feeling any sort of remorse. He was still here. She still had him and her team.

Jack held Sam's gaze as the weight of the universe settled on both of them. How long would it be until the future repeated itself?

**END**

**A/N: Thank you for reading!**


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